Gray Hollow's streets woke at night like a mouth full of broken teeth — lanterns swinging over crooked stalls, gamblers hunched over dice cups in doorways, drifters nursing gutter wine that tasted of rust and old regret.
Li Shen moved through the alleys like he'd never left — head low, blade strapped tight across his back, boots whispering over damp clay bricks. Yue Lan's threads glowed faintly at her wrists, flickering whenever a shadow slipped too close.
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They found shelter in an abandoned storehouse at the edge of the old spice quarter — its wooden door hanging by one hinge, its floor layered in cracked jars and rat nests. Li Shen dropped a coil of old rope to wedge the door shut. Yue Lan stood by the only window, watching the street for shapes that lingered too long.
"Master Liao wasn't lying," she murmured. "Three men followed us from the tea stall. Another two broke off when we cut through the back market."
Li Shen squatted by the wall, tugging a dry rice sack closer. He unsheathed his blade, checking the edge by candle stub.
"They'll come at dawn," he said. "When they think we're too tired to stand."
Yue Lan traced a finger over the sill — threads drifting out to dance like fireflies beyond the cracked glass.
"Or they'll send drunks first. To test your teeth."
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The first knock came not long after midnight — soft, polite. A single rap. Then silence.
Li Shen didn't rise. Yue Lan flicked her threads tight, coiling them around her palm.
Another knock. A scrape of boots over the threshold.
Li Shen smiled. "Come in, then."
The door swung half-open — a man slipped through, bent-backed, robe reeking of stale rice wine. His eyes flickered to the blade in Li Shen's lap, then to Yue Lan's pale threads wavering like frost smoke.
"Forgive me, honored ones…" the drunk croaked. "No trouble here. Just cold. Just hungry."
Li Shen's eyes narrowed. His grin didn't fade.
"Then crawl back to your rat hole. Or stay and show me whose coin stains your throat."
---
The man stiffened — shoulders hunching tight. A glint of steel flashed from his sleeve — not a blade, but a needle, lacquered black with poison or charm-sleep.
He lunged — faster than his drunk act promised. Li Shen didn't bother to stand. His boot shot out, catching the man's knee sideways. Bone cracked. The man screamed — Yue Lan's threads snapped out like ghost vines, winding around his neck and jaw.
The needle clattered to the floor, rattling near Li Shen's blade.
Li Shen rose, crouched over the broken man. He leaned close, voice soft.
"Who?"
The man choked on his own spit — Yue Lan's threads tight enough to stop any poison pill.
"Red banners—" he rasped. "Not sect… not sect… traders… blood money—"
Li Shen's grin sharpened.
"Thieves with teeth," he said.
Yue Lan's threads withdrew — the man slumped like a dropped rag.
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By dawn, Gray Hollow's alleys knew.
The Bloodbound Immortal was not chained. His throat did not wear a knife. His heart still beat — loud enough to wake every bounty hound sniffing rumor for silver.
And the first man who tested his teeth crawled back into the gutter with no voice left to sell.
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They left the storehouse before the lanterns guttered out. Yue Lan's spirit threads drifted at her shoulders like a cloak of frost. Li Shen's blade gleamed in the dawn mist — no Codex runes, no demon echo. Just steel, nicked and true.
A crown? Thieves could try to wear it.
A chain? Let them drag it behind their broken teeth.
Li Shen carried only his name — and that was enough to bite back.
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⚡ End of Chapter Five — The Teeth Beneath the Lanterns
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